Ride On, Cowboy
by Pyrinsomniac
Summary: -Complete- My version of what happened after the series. Be warned, though- some OOCness, and I can't accept character deaths.
1. Beautiful Day

Faye didn't know how long she stood there crying, only that it seemed an eternity before she could pull herself together enough to stop the torrent of tears.  '_That stupid, arrogant- lunkhead!_' she raged to herself.  '_What right does he have to do this to me?_' She might have gone on for quite a while in this vein, if not for a thought that popped abruptly into her head, causing her eyes to widen in hope she wouldn't allow herself to feel.  '_The lunkhead took the Swordfish II, and the Redtail is broken, but the Hammerhead should still be here, and functional…_  **_Yes!  There it is_**_!'_

            Jet, who was still absentmindedly running a rag over the window, didn't notice Faye had commandeered the Hammerhead until he heard the engine.  "Faye!" he bellowed through the radio, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

            "I have to see him, Jet.  Even if he's dead…" she faltered for only a moment.  "I have to see him."

            "It won't do any good.  He's dealing with his own past.  You and I both know he isn't coming back, so get out of the Hammerhead!"

            "Open the hanger, Jet, or I'll crash through it.  I don't have a lot of time." Faye's voice was quiet, and deadly as Jet had ever heard it.

            "You don't even know where he went!" Jet argued.

            "I'll find him." Faye said, her characteristic cool confidence back in place.  "Are you going to open the hanger or not?"

            Cursing, Jet obliged.

*

            Edward watched her father's vehicle disappear into the horizon.  He'd forgotten her again.  

            Edward did **not** like being forgotten.  

            He also didn't have the time to play with her very much, so the system that had evolved consisted of Edward going off with Ein to play, her father forgetting about her and leaving, and Edward catching up to him and McIntyre days later.  Frankly, Edward was beginning to tire of the sensation of being jerked by a leash.  

            But Faye- Faye had said this was where she belonged, and belonging was the best thing in the world.

            But **was** this where she belonged?  Ein didn't seem to think so; he kept looking back, as though the Bebop were waiting just out of sight.  

            Was she Francois, or Edward?  

*

            It was easy enough for Faye to track the Swordfish II from the Hammerhead, with the equipment  Jet had and some tricks she'd picked up from watching Edward work.  

            She kept her gun at the ready as she entered the syndicate building.  She could tell Spike had been here; the place showed signs of being blown apart in several places.  

            But where was he?  And for that matter, where were the members of the Red Dragons?  _'The live ones, that is.'_ Faye thought, wrinkling her nose at the bodies.  She decided to try upstairs.  

            After rooting around for a few minutes, she found a group and discreetly followed them.  It wasn't hard, with the racket they were making.  

            They stopped at the foot of a staircase.  Faye was surprised to notice how light it was, but the sound of halting footsteps drew her attention back to the matter at hand.

            It was a bloodied Spike, making his way downward.  Teal eyes met brown ones that didn't see her.  

            Spike raised an arm, aimed a finger, squinted an eye shut.  Faye couldn't tell if it was the eye that saw the present or the past that was open.  

            "Bang." said Spike Spiegel, and collapsed.

            Faye stood paralyzed with the members of the Red Dragon Syndicate for a long moment.  Finally, however, she snapped herself out of it, bit the top off a grenade hidden in her red sweater, and ducked behind a wall.  She figured if grenades were good enough for Spike- on- a- death/vengeance- mission, they were good enough for her.  

            She waited until the debris settled before running up to Spike and turning him over.  He was bleeding badly, and hardly breathing.  Faye cursed and knelt next to him, removing his trench coat and tearing it into hasty bandages.  

            Faye contacted the hospital on her communicator, then Jet.

*

            Jet wondered if it was really worth the trouble of answering the insistent ringing of his communicator.  It could only be Faye, telling him Spike was dead, and probably wanting comfort besides.

            Well, he was **tired** of being yanked around, dammit!  He didn't have to take this, he was fine on his own, thank you very much.

            He lasted for three rings before snatching the annoying little thing up and turning it on.  "**What**?"  His snarl would have scared a burly grown man.

            Faye wasn't fazed.  "He's **alive**, Jet.  Barely, but he's alive!"

            "What?" he repeated, without the rancor.

            "He's alive." Faye, in a turnaround from her usual habits, didn't seem to mind repeating herself.  "I'll come get you."

            Jet turned off the communicator and slowly set it down, his mind trying to wrap itself around the fact that Spike was actually alive.  For the moment, anyway. 

A/N:  This is just something I started at the end of the series, because I couldn't accept Spike's death.  (Insert shameless plug for Hope, Denial and Chocolate.)  Let me know if you want me to continue with this.   


	2. Survivor

            A little fish popped up in front of Edward.  _'Bebop?'_ she thought, anticipation rising.  She'd set the Tomato to react if the crew of the Bebop did anything interesting, but so far they hadn't done anything noteworthy. 

            _'A hospital record?  For Spike- person?'   _Edward read the details.  '_Ooh.  He got messed up **good**.'_

            Ein whimpered.

            Edward perched her goggles atop her head.  "What is it, Ein?"

            He whined and cocked his head at her.

            Edward tapped the screen.  "You want to see Spike- person?"

            He barked.

            "What about Father- person?"

            Ein growled in reply and whimpered again, pawing at her leg.  

            Edward snapped the Tomato shut and sprang up, giving the dog a salute.  "Yes sir, General!  The mission **shall** be undertaken!"  She balanced the Tomato on her head and zoomed off, listing first to one side and then the other as Ein ran in circles around her, barking.  

*

            He remembered this.

            Floating in a haze of pain.  Fragments of memory plaguing him, keeping him from rest.  Faces of people he'd known and people in white, drifting in and out.  

            It was all only a dream.  He was dreaming again.  

            Spike lay back to await the end of the ride.

*

            Jet rubbed his injured leg.  He hated waiting and he hated hospitals.  

            And right now he hated Faye.

            He could see her outside, leaned against a wall, smoking.  Jet wanted a cigarette in the worst kind of way, but it wasn't worth the trouble of moving.  

            And he didn't trust her not to leave him stranded here.

            A doctor finally made his way over to Jet, and Faye, noticing, managed to get to him in only a few seconds without resorting to the indignity of running.

            "You're Spike Spiegel's partner?"

            "Yeah." Jet replied.

            The doctor looked at Faye.  "And you brought him in?"

            "I did."

            The doctor sighed.  "Well, he's going to make it.  We'll keep him here for a couple of days, then send him home, but he's going to have to have at least a week of bed rest."

            Jet snorted.  "He sleeps all the time anyway."

            Faye's shoulders relaxed and, without a word, she turned and headed toward the exit.

            "Where are you going?" Jet demanded.  "Wait up!"

            Faye only laughed.


	3. Call Me

            "Here.  I know you're awake."  Spike felt something being pushed onto his middle.  Hoping it was food, he slid an eyelid open just enough to define what it was.  

            Bell peppers and beef.  With **real** beef.  Spike stared in disbelief for a moment before struggling upward.  Faye grabbed the plate while Jet helped him up, then she deposited it back on his stomach and waltzed into the kitchen.  

            "Faye!" Jet bellowed.  "Don't eat it all!"

            Her head poked around the corner, wearing a smile Spike recognized as being thin ice.  "Are you trying to say that I'm a pig, Jet?"

            "Not **trying**, it's true-" Jet started, cut off by a knife whizzing by his head to ultimately plant itself in the wall.  "**Hey**!  This is **my** ship, I don't have to feed you!  You better pay for that!"

            "You ought to be old enough to know better than to say something about how much a woman eats, Jet." Faye informed him, taking a plate to her usual seat on the stairs.  

            Jet grumbled all the way to the kitchen.  Spike, for his part, was content to wolf down his portion without comment.  Then he noticed the screen (A/N: what IS that thing?  Is it a TV, or computer, or a combination of the two?  It's that thing on that little table that they used to watch Bigshot on.)  fill with a familiar yellow, sly smile.  _Edward?_  Sure enough, a maniacal laugh came next (catching the attention of Jet and Faye, who actually got off her ass to come see what was going on) and Edward's face popped up on the screen.

            "**Edward**?!" Jet and Faye chorused.  

            A confirming laugh. 

            "What are you doing, Edward?" Faye asked.

            "Edward is coming to Bebop, Faye- Faye!  Edward does not belong with Father- person."

            "Whoa, you can't come back here!" Jet interjected.  "You have a **father**, Edward!  If he decided to press charges, we could go to jail for kidnapping!  Stay with your father."

            Her face took on a mulish look.  "Edward is coming back to Bebop." she said, half statement, half threat.  

            "Children belong with their fathers, Edward." Faye tried.

            "Edward is not like other children.  Edward belongs on Bebop."  she insisted.  "Father- person will not notice Edward is gone.  Father- person keeps leaving Edward." she muttered.

            "Look, I'm sure he isn't doing it on purpose-"

            "Edward is **coming back to Bebop**!" she yelled, and the screen went blank.

            Jet ran his mechanical hand through hair he didn't have.  

            Faye snorted in disgust and sauntered toward the door.

            "Hey, where are you going?" Jet demanded.

            "Out." Faye gave him an indifferent glance over her shoulder and ducked through the door.

            Jet merely growled and got Spike another plate.  They rode roughshod over him, coming and going as they pleased, didn't give a damn about anything but themselves and never contributed anything, and to top it off Spike was the only one he'd taken in voluntarily.  Then he smiled.  Spike wasn't dead, Faye had come back, and Edward and Ein were coming back.  Life was good.

            Jet got himself another plate of bell peppers and beef while he was at it.


	4. Family System

            _Dammit, Aaron Jilis, I **know** you're here!_ Faye thought indignantly, scanning the seedy bar for her bounty head.  Sure, the boys had enough money for food and other necessities, but a girl needed pocket money.  Faye, in particular, needed a **lot** of pocket money.

            Hence her presence in the seedy bar.

            _Wait_… She whipped out a scanner she'd filched while Jet was sleeping.  The face matched.  Faye put a hand to her gun and slid over to him.  "Hey there."

            His eyes didn't make it to her face.  "How much?"

            "**WHA**-" Faye started, then settled for a growl.  She grabbed his hair in one hand while switching the grip of her other to the barrel of her pistol.  Faye brought her knee up into Aaron Jilis' face, then proceeded to give him a spirited beating to the head with her gun that lasted for several minutes.  

            "Don't even **think** about it." she snarled, aiming at a man to her right that was reaching to his side.  He dropped the offending limb, looking sheepish.  

            Faye dragged her bounty head out of the bar by his hair, quite pleased with herself, all things considered.  She was really getting better at this.  _All I needed was practice.  That's my second since I left the Bebop!  Hanging around with those losers must have been sucking all the luck- and, hell, Faye, let's be honest, intelligence- out of me._  She sung under her breath as she slung Jilis into the Redtail, taking care to cuff him first- utilizing something else she'd "borrowed" from Jet.

*

            The only problem was getting to the Bebop.  Edward considered her options.  

            She couldn't guide the ship through space, let alone the Gate. There was no way she'd be able to control it that long.  And based on the reception to her news, they **definitely** wouldn't be coming to, let alone landing, on Earth.

            Hmm.  The most expedient thing to do would probably be to acquire a temporary crew to get to Mars.  

            Shopping!  

            Edward ceremoniously placed her goggles on her face and turned her attention to the Tomato.  "Searching, searching, give me a present!" she commanded, zooming through the possibilities.  

*

            Ainsley looked over at Brendan.  "What the hell's going on?!"

            "I don't **know**!" he spat, madly fiddling with the controls.  "It's gone berserk!  Won't do a damn thing!"

            Mary Anne laughed.  "The ship's been possessed!"

            "You're not helping." Ainsley pointed out.

            Mary Anne shrugged.  "If he can't do anything, what could I do?  Besides, I think it's funny."

            Brendan kicked the control panel with a final, vehement curse and stalked off to his room.  

            Mary Anne settled back into a plush chair.  "At least we have a nice ride."

            "If you discount the possibility that this 'nice ride' will become our coffin."

            "You're so negative." she said lazily.

            "And **you're** just a floater.  You float through everything, drifting through as though you were a wisp of cloud or something." Ainsley retorted.

            "Well, if I'm just a wisp of a cloud, whenever I come up against something hard I can just breeze right through it."  Mary Anne reasoned.

            Ainsley merely rolled her eyes and waited for the end of the ride.

*

            Edward stopped the ship and surveyed it.  The Ignis glittered back at her.  It was small, but would serve her purpose.  

            Brendan burst out onto the deck and looked around suspiciously.  

            "Hiiiiiiiiiii!" Edward called, waving.  Ein stood on his back legs and barked.

            Two women came outside.  One of them waved back at her and the other jumped to the ground and started walking in her direction.

            Edward ran up to her.  "Hi!"

            The woman quirked an eyebrow.  "Hi." she flatly repeated.  "Were you the one who did that to our ship?"

            Edward nodded vigorously, still smiling.  "Uh- huh!"

            "Might I ask why?"

            "Edward needs a ride." she told Ainsley.  "Edward wants to ride with you!"

            Ainsley drew back.  "With us?  Whoa, kid, hold on.  You can't come with us.  Where are your parents?  Who's taking care of you?"

            The girl drew herself up proudly.  "Edward takes care of herself.  And Ein, too!"  The dog barked in agreement.  "Father- person doesn't care that Edward is gone.  Father- person leaves Edward behind on a regular basis."

            "Listen, kid, we're not taking you-"

            "But Edward needs a ride."  

            "We can't help you."

            "You just wander around." Edward pointed out.  "All Edward wants is a short ride to Mars.  And Edward can help you!  Edward has lived on a ship before."

            "No."  Ainsley folded her arms beneath her breasts.  

            Edward had hoped it wouldn't come to this.  "Edward is coming with you.  If you do not take Edward, Edward will put a bounty on your heads and tell the police what you do for a living.  All Edward is asking for is a short ride to Mars.  Is it really worth all that trouble just to refuse Edward?"

            "You little brat." Ainsley said huffily, in a manner that strongly reminded Edward of Faye.  She studied the girl's eyes for a long moment, finally huffing heavily and heading toward the ship.

            Edward skipped along behind, Ein at her heels.  

*

            It had been three days since Edward's call, and Jet was beginning to hope that the girl hadn't been able to find her way to the Bebop.

            He should have known better than to underestimate Radical Edward.  

            Faye stomped into the Bebop's common room.  Jet craned his head back to look at her, and even Spike's eyes rolled toward the door.  

            "Lost at gambling again?" Jet guessed.

            Faye growled and stalked toward her room.

            "Faye- Fayeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" came a very familiar voice, followed by a bark.  Edward's vividly red head poked into the room, topped by the Tomato.  Ein dashed past her, straight to Jet.

            "Edward?" Jet asked, petting Ein, who had jumped into his lap.  

            Edward laughed and ran to Jet and Spike, only taking time to set the Tomato down on the table before perching herself on the back of the yellow couch Spike lay on.  "Do we have food?"

            Jet struggled to control a grin and only had partial success; a lopsided smile graced his rugged face.  "Yeah, we have bell peppers and beef."

            "Urgh." Spike's bandages said.

            Jet shot him a dirty look, to which Spike innocently replied by studying the ceiling.  "Listen, just because **you've** been eating it for a while…"

            Spike's mismatched eyes closed.

            "I can't believe it.  He's asleep!" Jet headed toward the kitchen.

            "Sleeping, sleeping, always sleeping!  Spike Spiegel Sleepyhead." Edward sang, taking her things to her old room.  "Lunkhead, sleepyhead.  Lunkhead, sleepyhead."

            Alone in the kitchen, Jet allowed the silly grin free rein as he fixed Edward a plate and filled Ein's old bowl.  

A/N:  Just like the last chapter, I know, but I'm probably going to do something different next.  I'm starting to get a little anxious- there wasn't really any point to this story, except insisting that Spike **isn't isn't isn't** dead.  This might turn into a Spike/ Faye.  What do y'all think?  Eee, I don't know what to do…  ah well.  I'll figure **something** out.  Virtual chocolate to anyone who reviews!  And my thanks to PimpinSatan and SpecterQueen (*crosses fingers*  Here's hoping I got your names right…).  Cookies to them.


	5. Empty Spaces

            Faye sat in the bar- a customer, this time.  She slapped her empty glass back down on the wood.  Go back, don't go back.  Go back eventually.  Leave them all behind for good.  Nothing sounded appealing.  

            _Why do I keep hanging around?  It's not like anything good has ever come of sticking around those idiots.  Half the time there's not even anything to eat._  She looked down.  _Or drink.  Never any money, either…  there's nothing tying me to that place.  _

_            So why do I keep running back, every time?  _

_            It's easy living._  she told herself.  _ Those suckers are such easy marks they **deserve** to be mooched off of.  That's all it is.  I could leave them behind any time._

_            Since when did you start lying to **yourself**, Faye?_sneered an annoying little voice in her head.  It might have been her conscience, but she'd perfected ignoring **that** years ago.  Or smothering it.  Whichever you preferred.

            Faye rose and went to the Redtail.  She'd obviously had enough for one night.  But something about the question nagged at her, wouldn't leave her alone.  

*

            Spike jerked awake.  Julia's face, vivid from the dream he had just abandoned, ghosted away from him.  Spike trailed his fingers through where it had been.  

            Julia.

            Julia who he'd loved.  Julia who had made him, for the first time, afraid to die.  Julia who had loved him in return.  Julia who had been so alive.  Who had chosen to stay with him, until the end.  

            And now she was dead.  She, Annie, Vicious, Mao, the Elders, Shin, Len… all the links to his past, now dead.  All the players in his dream, gone.  The Bebop was all he had left.  

            It made him think of Faye.  

            {"_My memories came back."_

_            He paused._

_            "But… nothing good came of it.  I had no place to return to.  There was no place left.  This was the only place I could go._

_            "And now you're leaving, just like that!"_

_            "I have to do it, Faye." he'd tried to make her understand.  _

_            And apparently she did, on some level.  None of her shots hit him, and Spike couldn't help but think it wasn't entirely out of agitation.  If a marksman like Faye had **really **wanted to hit him, then, she would have.  _(A/N:  I know Faye's a woman, but I thought 'marksman' sounded better.)}

            Her face stayed with him as he faded back to sleep, and Spike's dreams thereafter were devoid of any specters from his past.

*

            "Urgh." Faye muttered into her pillow.  She'd outgrown her affection for morning long ago.  She sat up, stretching and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.  What to do, what to do…  

            Maybe staying away for a few days would make the lunkheads appreciate her more.  And time away from Edward was always good.  All the time it was "Faye- Faye Faye- Faye Faye- Faye!"  

            Not to mention that she was having feelings for a certain fluffy- haired screwball that she wasn't entirely comfortable with…

            No.  Better to put some distance between them before she wound up getting too soft.  Faye knew she'd go back, but she also needed this time alone.  

            Well.  Time to get more money, then.  She didn't feel like bounty hunting; it was too much work, and another kind of hunting was really her specialty anyway.  Faye got up and dressed herself, not in her favorite revealing yellow outfit, but a tasteful blue dress that showed off her eyes and hair and just enough skin to attract attention.  

            She took the last of her money and left for the resorts and clubs frequented by the rich.  There were plenty of old men perfectly willing to give a sweet young thing like her gifts and money for the privilege of having her on their arm, and it was easy to "borrow" much more and then disappear.  Easy money that she could then take to the casino and have some fun with, besides making a profit.  

*

            _Damn that woman._ Jet cursed silently, changing Spike's bandages.  Both men's injuries had gotten considerably better in the weeks since they were received, but Faye wasn't hurt at all, so things were easier for her than either of them.  She'd actually been a help when Spike got back to the Bebop.

            And now she'd taken off again.

            Why was he even bothering to get irritated?  It wasn't like this was anything but typical behavior.  Jet finished his work and gave it a pat.  "There you go."

            Spike didn't bother to acknowledge his friend.  

            Jet got up and went into the common room, where Edward was on her Tomato.  "Edward?"

            "Nyeh?"

            "Why did you want to come back here and leave your father?"

            The bright images on the screen stopped and floated, and Edward's back stiffened.  "Edward did not belong with Father- person." she admitted quietly.  "It did not matter whether Edward was there or not."  

            "Edward, are you sure about that?  Your father might be worried about you." Jet said gently.

            The girl's body swayed from side to side with her head when she shook it.  "No.  Father- person left Edward behind many, many times and was always surprised to see Edward when she came back.  Edward did not belong there."

            Jet stared at her for a minute, then clapped a sympathetic hand to her shoulder and went on his way.  As he departed, Ein crooned and snuggled up against her leg.  

**No** ideas for the next chapter, so it might be longer in coming out than usual.  Or is desirable.  Looks like this is going to be Spike/Faye, but I'm not sure to what extent.  Cookies for PimpinSatan, Cowgirl 13, and anyone who reviews!  


	6. Split Personality

            Two weeks later, Faye strolled nonchalantly back into the Bebop.

            Spike and Jet, who had both been sitting on the couch, craned their necks back to look at her.

            "Food." she said shortly, tossing a bag at them and leaving to seal herself in her room.

            Jet dug through the bag as Spike watched lazily.  "Beef, vegetables, instant noodles, freeze- dried stuff… where'd she get the money for all this?"

            "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Spike quoted, sizing up the impressive heap.

            "You'd think if she could afford all this she could afford to pay me back some of the money she stole from us." Jet muttered.

            "Which time?" 

            Jet's face drooped.  "Good point."

            Edward came running out of nowhere and dove headfirst into the pile.  "Fooooooooood!"

            "Get out of there!" Jet roared, yanking her out by a leg.  The redhead came out munching contentedly on a stalk of celery.  "And **you**!" he threw Ein onto the chair, furiously watching the dog devour the piece of meat he'd gotten to before Jet had interfered.  He hurried to the kitchen with the rest of it.

            "Huh?" Spike wondered aloud, picking up a bottle that Jet had missed.  "Mmm."  Liquor.  Good stuff, too.  (A/N: I don't know what good stuff is when it comes to drinks, so make your own choice as to what I'm talking about.)  He'd seen some eggs before Jet had taken the food away; he could have a prairie oyster in the morning.  

            "Oooh." Edward peered at her Tomato through the green goggles over her eyes.  She looked back at Spike and pointed.  "Bounty bounty!"

            "I don't know if I want to go chasing a bounty right now, Edward."  Even though he was mostly healed, Spike still wasn't up to the level of physical prowess he'd had before going after Vicious.  

            She rubbed her stomach meaningfully.  

            "We have enough food for a while." he told her.  

            "Rainy days!  Rainy days in space!" Edward crowed, removing her goggles and leaping to her feet, looking to do so almost at the same time.  She jumped on the back of the couch and, bouncing from one piece of furniture to another, made her way out of the room.

            Jet came back in.  "What was that about?"

            Spike leaned over the Tomato.  "Edward's found a bounty."

            "You're still not back to normal yet." Jet pointed out.

            "Small fry." Spike said dismissively.  "She seems to think that we need to squirrel away something extra."

            "Hmm." Jet murmured, looking over the information.  "Looks easy enough.  And it might do some good to get back in the swing of things with a few of the easier bounties."

            "Don't tell me you're going to start chasing bounty heads this soon." Faye's voice dripped disdain.  "Honestly, men are such idiots." she informed the ceiling.  

"The fluff- head will go running off, get himself in trouble, and I'll have to save his ass yet again."

            Jet's mechanical hand grazed the top of his bald head, and his face took on the mournful expression that it usually did when he was reminded of his hair- or lack thereof.

            "Fluff head?" Spike inquired, with a very put- upon look.

            Faye rumpled the green mess atop his head, prompting Spike to pull away and give her an offended glare.  "If the shoe fits…"

            "It doesn't fit!" he growled.

            "Drop the subject.  We were talking about bounties, remember?" Jet sorely reminded them.  

            "And you saved my ass **once**." Spike continued.  "I didn't even ask you to do it then.  And whatever I owed you for **that** is negated by the **numerous** times you've almost gotten me killed!"

            "When did I almost get you killed?" Faye haughtily demanded.

            "Bounties-" Jet began.

            "Pierrot le Fou." (A/N: Spelling?) Spike shot off, in the manner of someone slapping a winning card down on a table.

            "WHAT?!" Faye screeched.  "I was saving you then too!"

            "Which is why you almost shot my head off?!" Spike countered.

            Faye folded her arms and flung herself back against the cushions.  Spike, satisfied that he'd won, turned to Jet.  "We could use it to ease back into bounty hunting…"

            "I already said that." Jet observed.

            "We have enough food." Faye pointed out.

            "We need money, too.  And when are you going to pay me back?"

            "Pay you back for what." she muttered resentfully.

            "The repairs to the Redtail, for starters!"

            Faye jumped up.  "I bring you all that food, and I came back when I **didn't have to**, and all you can think about is **money**?  Just how shallow are you, Jet?"  She stomped off to her room.

            "I'm in." Spike put his feet up on the table.

            "I don't believe her…" Jet muttered.  He turned to Spike.  "Where the hell does she- hey!"  He shook his head.  "Asleep again.  I'm really starting to think you're a narcoleptic, Spike- o."  

A/N: Cookies to PimpinSatan and anyone who reviews.  Any kind of cookies you want!  (Virtual cookies, of course.)  You like?


	7. Duck and Run

            "I'm going in." Spike told Jet, pocketing his communicator.  He strolled through the restaurant doors and peered around for his mark.  

            There.  The fool had decided to take the prostitute he'd engaged for the night out to dinner before attending to business.  Spike came up behind the man and tapped him on his shoulder.

            "Huh?" asked the bounty.  

            Spike replied with a fist to the man's jaw.  "It doesn't pay to be a gentleman." he told the unconscious fugitive, as the prostitute squealed and ran away.  Or, rather,  stumbled away as fast as she could in her high heels.  _Boy, does it not pay to be a gentleman…_  He pushed memories of Julia down before they could really surface and dragged the bounty away.  

*

            Faye was lounging against the hangar wall when he got back.  "Still alive, I see." she remarked.

            "For the moment." he agreed.  "And don't think you're getting any of the money, Faye."  

            "Not even a little?" she pled.

            "Not even a little." he repeated, smirking.  

            "How'd it go, Spike?" asked Jet, coming up to them.  

            "Here's your cut."  Spike slapped a card into Jet's palm and started toward his room, no doubt to hide his own securely enough to discourage Faye from searching for it.  If he was going to deposit it in a casino, he'd do it himself, thank you very much.  Especially since he won more often than she did.

            Faye looked extremely put out.  "I don't even get a **little**?"

            The men walked away in answer.  

            "Come on, guys!  Charity starts at home!" she heaved a sigh and slumped against the wall.  They never gave her anything but trouble…

*

            Spike was practicing again, in the darkened room that served as his gym.  But no matter how hard he worked, or how much he sweated, the memories refused to fade.  

            Julia's golden hair had fanned out behind her and her eyes had widened in startled recognition as she fell.  

            He had seen his own reflection in those eyes as he'd assured her it was all just a dream.  And he'd watched the soul of the woman he'd loved abandon them, leaving her beautiful body that seemed, to him, to be the very stuff life was made of- leaving that beautiful body just a shell.  Its true beauty was gone.

            Faye's eyes had overflowed with tears when he left.  Her hands had clenched and she had fired blindly into the ship.  

            When Julia had sent him off to die, she hadn't let her tears fall.  Her hands had ripped apart the card he'd given her, and she had refused to use the gun.  (A/N: I'm taking it for granted that Spike knew about her little conversation with Vicious.  It's certainly no more odd than how Julia managed to survive without killing Spike as Vicious had wanted her to.)  

            Spike's shadow- sparring increased in speed as his thoughts did.  They were so similar and so different, Faye and Julia…  both beautiful, but in different ways.  Ways that reflected their personalities.  Their faces hovered in his mind's eye.  

            Try as he might, he couldn't banish them.  

*

            As fate (or Murphy's Law) would have it, Faye was the one who came to tell him dinner was ready.  She'd even volunteered.  _I'm getting soft._ she grumbled to herself.  

            She stood in the doorway and watched him for a while.  Spike's invisible opponent was receiving quite a beating.  He was practicing shirtless, as per his usual habit, and Faye found herself uncomfortably aware of the muscles evident because of it.  She had always liked watching him move.  He just seemed to- flow, like water.  

            She gathered her breath and prepared to speak, then found herself unable to, as had happened when she'd come to give him Julia's message.  Remembering that time, Faye somehow knew that Julia was the reason for this fervor, and was suddenly unaccountably jealous of the dead woman.  She turned to go, as she had then.

            "Food?" Spike guessed, coming up beside her.  

            "Yeah." Faye confirmed.  

            Something in her voice made him glance down at her.  Whatever it was, he saw it in her face as well.  

            They walked to the kitchen in uncharacteristic silence.  (A/N: I didn't mean for that to be a pun, honest!)  Jet gave them an inquiring look, but when they didn't offer anything, merely sighed and hushed Edward before she had a chance to get started.  

*

            "Here." Spike said gruffly, pushing something into her hand and striding off down the hall without another word.

            Faye directed a puzzled look after him and opened her palm.  

            It was a money card.

            _What the hell…?_

She took it to her room and was turning it over in her hand when she suddenly realized what it was about it that was bothering her.

            When Spike had given Jet his share of the bounty money, he hadn't given her anything.  He would have gotten this card when he cashed in the bounty; he'd been planning on giving her some money right from the start.  

            Faye's speculative stare took on an edge.  Why hadn't he given it to her earlier?  Why was he giving it to her **now**?  And why wasn't he holding it over her head?  It was almost like he'd been embarrassed or something, the way he'd just taken off after pressing it into her hand…  

Cookies to PimpinSatan, Sanima, SpecterQueen, Soranji- Chan, and anyone who decides to review.  (Someone else reviewed- R something- I'm so sorry, but I've forgotten what your name is.  A year's supply of virtual cookies to you in compensation.)  What do you think?  Tell me and you get the Virtual Cookies of Your Choice!  


	8. Thanks a Lot

            Dinner was unusually silent.

            Jet cast speculative, sidelong glances at the other so- called adults at the table.  Spike and Faye had eyes only for their food, and had seemed to be avoiding each other for the past few days.  _I wonder… nah._

            Edward and Ein happily devoured their helpings.  "More!" Edward demanded, holding out her bowl, and Ein added an appealing bark.

            "Get it yourself, you know where it is." Jet told her.

            Edward carefully balanced the bowl on her head in a manner reminiscent of the Tomato, sprang straight upward, and bounded into the kitchen.  Ein trotted along behind her with his own bowl in his teeth.  

            "What's up with you two?" Jet decided to bite the bullet.

            "Nothing." they chorused, looking at each other, then jerking their heads away.

            Jet raised his eyebrows.  "Oh?  Tell me about this nothing."

            Faye gulped the rest of her own portion and stood up.  "Nothing, Jet.  Just because we don't want to yabber like Edward there has to be something wrong?"  She stomped off to her room and slammed the door shut.

            Jet looked to Spike for an explanation.  His partner just shrugged, offered a brief, "Hormones," and directed his full attention back to his meal.  Jet rolled his eyes and copied Spike's example.  

*

            "Ed**ward**!" Faye yelled, pulling her foot out of the girl's reach.

            Edward cocked her head and giggled.  She was oddly contorted; she was doing a handstand, but had craned her head far enough back to be able to see what her feet were doing.  

            Edward's first and second toes held the brush to a bottle the bottle of fingernail polish that she had been using to paint Faye's toenails.  Edward had really done a remarkable job, considering; although it wasn't up to her usual standard, she'd managed not to get any polish outside of the nail.  

            Faye didn't care.

            She bodily tossed the girl into the hall, when she noticed something.  "Wait… Edward, do a handstand again."

            The youngest member of the Bebop cheerily complied.

            Faye eyed her speculatively.  "I think we'd better get you a training bra."

            Edward fell on her head.  "What, Faye- Faye?" she squeaked, rubbing the sore spot.

            "A training bra, Edward.  How old are you?"

            "Edward is thirteen."

            "Yeah, you definitely need one." Faye concluded.  "We can't get one on Calisto, but there's bound to be somewhere nearby."  

            Edward made a face.  "Edward does not want a training bra."

            "Too bad." Faye breezily brushed off the girl's objections and went back into her room, in a much improved mood.  There was nothing like shopping- or even the promise of it- to lift a girl's spirits!

            Unless you were Edward Wong Hau Pepulu Tivrusky the Fourth.  "But Edward does not want a training bra." she told Ein, who whined sympathetically.

            "What's that?" Spike stopped short, startled.

            Edward turned huge, mournful brown eyes up to him.  "Edward does not want a training bra." she repeated.  "Faye- Faye says Edward needs a training bra."

            Spike's face twisted in distaste.  "I wouldn't know anything about that, kid."

            Edward watched him go and petted Ein, who had crawled up in her lap.  

I know that was REALLY short, and I'm sorry, but I decided to go ahead and split this and the trip to Calisto.  The next chapter will be a bit weightier than this one.  (Remember the Bebop's first visit to Calisto?)  This story's kind of bipolar, isn't it?  Weird.  I hope it holds together.  *spreads hands and twists face into rueful expression*****  And the next time you check this story, my username will probably be changed to Pyrinsomniac.  Oh, yeah!  Cookies to: Meheeners!  


	9. One Step Closer

            Faye sat in the corner stool at the Blue Crow and cursed Fate.  _It figures that our bounty heads would come **here**._  She didn't like being reminded of Gren.  He had been the first man she'd sent off to die, that she'd been unable to save.  Her gaze drifted resentfully to Spike.

            He was sitting at a table, drinking contentedly.  Callisto held bad memories for him as well, but Faye figured that he had so many, and was so used to dealing with them, that he wasn't really that bothered.  

            For his part, Jet was in another section of the room, keeping an eye on their bounties.  

            The five men they were after stood, and went outside.  That was Faye's cue, and she slapped some money down on the bar and followed them.  

            Outside, the men turned as one, leering at her revealing yellow outfit, covered only by her open jacket.  Faye pulled on her gloves.  "All right, boys, let's get started."

            The men were satisfied to acquiesce, and all five came at her at once.  Faye dropped one with an elbow to the back and another with a knee to his midsection.  When he doubled over, she brought her fist up into his nose, knocking him backwards and unconscious.  

            Spike announced his presence with a flying kick from the side, and Jet caught a fourth bounty in a headlock.  The fifth one tried to grab Faye, who dodged; he tried to kick her, and she swept him off his feet and onto his back.  The impact knocked the wind from him, and he was happy enough to stay put.  

            Jet and Spike took two each, and insisted on Faye cramming one into the Redtail with her.  By the time they got back to the Bebop, the bounty was sporting several new lumps on his head and Faye stayed only long enough to dump him off before jetting off again.  

            "That girl."  Jet shook his head.  "Never know when she'll be back."

            "Maybe we'll get lucky and she won't come back this time." Spike hoped aloud.  

            "No Faye- Faye?!" Edward shrieked.  "Disaster, disaster!  Earthquake, flood, meteor showers!  Rocks rocks everywhere!" she added, zooming off into obscure portions of the Bebop that only she and Ein visited.  

            Jet gave his friend an incredulous look.  "She's got it made here and she knows it.  She always comes back."

            "I can dream." Spike remarked.

            "Sometimes I think you do nothing but dream." Jet muttered, heading off toward his quarters.

*

            Faye sat in the corner barstool again, drinking.  _That saxophone player really sucks._  Deciding she couldn't stand it anymore, she stood and left.

            Half the men in the bar followed her.

            Faye turned and smiled at seeing them.  "Oh, good!"  She pulled on her gloves.  

            The first man came at her.  Faye took him down with an elbow to his ribs, and the next received a boot in his face.  The third and fourth ones came together, and Faye managed to kick one and punch the other, but not before one of them cut her arm.  

            _This might not be as easy as I thought._  She dropped two more; one man's nails dragged down her leg and scratched it as he fell.

*

            Spike raised his eyebrows at the Faye who came straggling in the common room.  

            Her jacket had several rips in it, and she had cuts on her arms, legs, and ribs.  Bruises and welts were starting to rise.  

            "Have fun?" he asked sardonically.

            "What happened to you?" Jet inquired.

            "I decided to blow off some steam." Faye told him, leaving it at that.  Sighing, Jet went after the medical supplies as she dropped onto the couch beside Spike.  She shrugged out of one half of the jacket, but the other one stuck before Spike removed it for her.  

            Jet came back with the medical box.  "Oh, shit, I forgot dinner!" he exclaimed, running into the kitchen.  

            Spike silently cleaned and bandaged her scratches for her.  When he was done, Faye dragged herself off to her room and lay down on her bed.  She drifted off to sleep.

*

             Spike fell asleep on the couch, as per his usual habit.  Dreams and memories mixed themselves before his eyes.  Julia fell forever toward the ground, but her face morphed into Faye's.  Spike backed up against his comrade during a battle, but the face that turned to face him, grinning, was not Vicious', but Jet's.  Julia tore a card into pieces and let them flutter from a window.  A rose was left in a puddle and a cigarette thrown carelessly onto the ground.  His gun flew out of his hand, Vicious' sword from his.  Vicious' mouth dropped as he, too, fell dead.  Julia covered Annie with her coat, and Annie turned into Edward.  Ein was a dead rug on the floor.  

            Faye sank down against a wall, crying.  

            _' I got my memories back.  But- no good came of it.  There was nothing left; I had no place to go back to.  This was the only place I could go._

_            ' And now you're leaving, just like that!'_

_            'Are you just going to throw your life away like it was nothing?!'_  The words echoed endlessly in his head.

*

            Faye was dreaming.  

            She had been young when she'd had the accident that left her life in such peril that her parents made the decision to have her cryogenically frozen, and which would leave her frozen in time.  

            Faye, the daughter of a wealthy, powerful man, had been one of the lucky, fortunate first to go on an experimental spacecraft that would have opened trips into space to those rich enough to pay for it.  

            There had been a malfunction.  

            The young Faye had been enthralled with space, and looking out the window when suddenly her vision split and there was pain in her middle.  She'd looked down at the wound, surprised; droplets of blood rose into the air as the artificial gravity faltered and failed, and Faye stared at them.  It was so odd, to see herself bleeding that way, and made it seem unreal.  

            And then she woke up to the doctor who proudly proclaimed to have 'drowned more humans than Neptune!'  

            Drowning… she was drowning in tears.  Faye was an inch tall, and staring up at herself as she sank down against the wall, crying.  

            _'Are you just going to throw away your life like it was nothing?!'_

            He was.  

            Was he going to throw away his present and any hope of a future for his past?  

            He did.  

            And then he came back.  

            Faye watched herself crying.  _He came back._

Weird, I know.  But I'm weird too.  Normal is boring!  You have to be crazy to keep from going insane!  Cookies to: SpecterQueen, PimpinSatan, Et, Soranji- chan, and Liz012014.  


	10. Live

            "Edward- Edward, come back here!" said Faye, grabbing the back of the girl's shirt just in time.  

            Her captive, who had been attempting to join some other children, scowled sullenly but ceased struggling.  She knew better than to defy Faye, especially when the older woman was in such a good mood.  

            "Look at this." Faye commanded, pulling a training bra off the rack.  (A/N: *wince*****  I know, I know.  What if I said I was sorry?)   

            Edward stuck her tongue out in distaste.  

            Faye ignored Edward's expression and held the little bra up to her.  "I think it would fit.  Go try it on."

            Edward's face went from slightly put- out to mulish.  "Edward does not want to."

            "I didn't ask if you wanted to." Faye pointed out.  "Just try it on!  Trying it on doesn't mean you have to wear it around the Bebop- which is where you spend most of your time, anyway."  

            Edward paused a moment in thought.

            "I have to wear one." Faye slyly reminded her.  

            "All right." Edward poutily conceded.  "But you have to get Edward something good, too."

            "All right, all right." Faye hastily echoed.  "Now hurry up!"

*

            The saleslady smiled at the pair before her.  "You and your daughter look so nice together!"

            Faye started.  "My- my **what**?"

            The saleslady now looked slightly embarrassed.  "Or is she your sister?"

            "We're not related." Faye hurriedly assured her, while Edward sang, "Sister, blister!  Blister, boil, snake, coil!"

            "Oh.  Well, you certainly make a pretty pair." the saleslady recovered.  

            "Thanks." Faye replied, her dour tone making it clear that she wasn't entirely sure the comment was a compliment.  

            Edward quit singing.  "Remember, Faye- Faye, you have to get Edward something good."

            "Yeah, yeah, all right." Faye agreed, still needled by the saleslady's mistake.  

*

            Spike raised his eyebrows.  "That's quite a bra you've got there."

            Faye's glare couldn't penetrate the boxes blocking it, a fact she sorely regretted.  "Well, we had to get some other stuff, too."

            "Faye- Faye got Edward something good!" the girl crowed, scooping Ein up and whirling him around.  

            Spike shot Faye a half- apprehensive look, remembering all too well what happened when Faye promised Edward 'something good.'  

            Faye couldn't see him through the boxes, though, so instead of answering his silent query she took the packages to her room.

            Spike followed.  "'Something good?'"  

            Faye set the packages down and turned to him with a huff.  "Something good.  She wanted some treats for Ein and parts for the Tomato."

            Spike's curiosity turned from wary to lazy.  "What's the rest of it?" he asked, lounging against her doorframe.  

            "Mostly clothes." she admitted.  "For me." she added, half- defensively.

            Spike snickered the slightest bit.

            "What?"

            He swept his hand downward, indicating her skimpy yellow outfit.  "I don't see why you bother buying clothes, since it doesn't seem like you like wearing them."

            Faye growled, grabbed her pillow, and chased him out of the room with it.

            Jet, reclining on the couch and who had done nothing more than raise his eyebrows at Faye and Edward's entrance, raised his eyebrows again at the sight the two other "adult" members of his crew.  Spike, still smirking, was running from Faye, who had a disturbing grimace of rage on her face and periodically took swipes at him with the pillow she still had in a death grip.  

            Spike leapt over his partner's head and turned to give Faye a smile.  "C'mon, Faye!"

            Faye's eyes narrowed dangerously and she jumped after him, growling.  

            Jet sighed as he watched them go.  Some people just never grew up…  _I think I'll spare myself seeing my ship half- destroyed and go work on my bonsais._  

I know it seems a little uncharacteristic of Spike to play with Faye like that, but do you remember in the movie, where they think she's contagious and she chases them around the room?  Enjoy; I think I'm going to wind this up pretty soon, in a couple more chapters.  Cookies to: Jim Hawking Jr., PimpinSatan, and Soranji- chan.


	11. Darkness

            Night on the Bebop.  

            Spike jerked awake.  Another nightmare… he'd been having them a lot lately.  A lot more than normal… and **definitely** a lot more than he would have liked.  He paused and listened.  

            Strange noises…

            Shrugging (he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, and he could always make it up later) he stepped out into the hallway.  Following the sounds brought him to Faye's room.

            Spike knocked quietly.

            No answer.

            Bracing himself to have a gun shoved in his face, he opened the door and heaved a sigh when his apprehensions weren't realized.  

            The sounds **were** coming from Faye.  She was tossing and turning in her sleep, moaning… and were those **tears** shining on her face?

            "Faye.  Hey, Faye." Spike shook her shoulder, feeling incredibly foolish.  

            "No.  No!" she protested, and Spike frowned.  "Dead… all dead…"  More tears traced silvery trails down her face, eerily highlighted by the light of that VCR and the Beta that had caused Jet and him so much trouble.  (A/N: He and Jet?  Him and Jet?  Jet and he?  ARGH!  CURSE HAVING AN EX- TEACHER FOR A GRANDMOTHER!)

            "Faye.  Wake up." he said, more urgently.  

            Her hand grasped his arm in a deathgrip.  "Don't go." she pled.  

            Spike started and checked to make sure that she was still asleep.  Upon finding her so, he upped his effort to wake her.  "Faye.  **Faye**.  It's a dream, just a dream… wake up, dammit!"

            Faye's eyes popped open and she jerked halfway upright before flinging herself back against the bed, panting.  "S- Spike.  What are you doing in here?"

            He sat down on the edge of the bed.  "You were being really loud."

             "Oh." she said quietly, looking off.  It was a long moment before she spoke again.  "I had a nightmare."

            "So I gathered." Spike replied dryly.  

            She shot him a resentful look.  "Well, it's not like I'm the **only** one having nightmares." she snapped.

            "What's that supposed to mean?" Spike demanded, a knot coiling in his stomach.  

            "Don't pretend you haven't been having them too, Spike." Faye scoffed.  "I've seen you, thrashing around.  Muttering stuff."  

            "That's none of your business." he told her coldly.  

            "And **my** nightmares are none of **yours**!" she retorted.  

            "It **is** my business when you're yelling loud enough to wake me up!"

            "Well, you've gotten me back!  Just go back to bed!" Faye shouted, throwing the covers over herself as she turned her back on Spike.  

            He stood to go, and was actually three- quarters of the way to the door when a stifled sob halted him.  With the utmost reluctance, Spike turned to Faye again and crossed over to her.  Faye tossed off the hand he had returned to her shoulder.  Spike merely resumed his seat on her bedside and, after a brief hesitation, placed a comforting hand to her back.  

            She sobbed for what seemed like hours.  _What could make **Faye** cry like that?_ he wondered.

            A memory immediately came to mind; the last time he'd seen Faye weep had been when he had left the Bebop.  

            _I'm sure that isn't it._ he told himself.  

            Faye's crying finally slowed, then stopped.  They sat for a few minutes in what would have been silence, had it not been for Faye's hiccups.  

            "I was… dreaming.  About the accident." she told him in a low voice.

            Spike was intrigued despite himself.  "Accident?"  

            "It's why I was put in the cryo clinic."  And she told him the whole story.  

             He was quiet for a moment after she finished.  Then, to her amazement, he chuckled a little.  "I don't know why… but I actually believe you this time."

            "You should."  There was barely a hint of accusation in her voice.  "It's true."  

            "Hmm." he said noncommittally.  Then-

            "I'm going to go have a cigarette."  He stood.

            Faye hastily joined him.  "I'll come with you."  She snatched her cigarettes and lighter.

            Spike glanced sidelong at her but didn't say anything.

*

            "So," Faye started, exhaling a plume of smoke, "what're your nightmares about?"

            He didn't say anything for so long that she thought he wasn't going to answer, but finally…  "They aren't nightmares so much as- memories."

            "Memories?"

            Again, there was an extensive pause before he replied.  "Three years ago…  I was in a Syndicate.  The same Syndicate as Vicious and… Julia."  He told her his story, with many pauses and struggles for words.

            For her part, Faye listened quietly; if Spike hadn't been talking to himself more than her, he would have been surprised.  

            "That's quite a story." she commented when he was done.  

            Spike didn't say anything; he merely gazed out over the deck of the Bebop, and into space.  (A/N: Remember that part in- I think it was the Real Folk Blues- where Spike and Jet are looking out the window onto Mars?  Where Spike says, "She's back" talking about Faye?  (But he'd been telling Jet about Julia before that?)  That's what they're doing, where they're looking out from.)  

            "I'm sorry I woke you up."  Faye apologized, so softly that Spike barely heard her.

            His eyes widened in astonishment.  Wait a minute- he was getting a sense of déjà vu.  

            Now he remembered.  Right before she'd left, Faye had burst out of the shower, bumped into him, and apologized.  She wasn't going to leave again, was she?  Spike found an uncomfortable tightening in his chest at the thought.  

            _Hang on.  What the hell's wrong with me?  I don't give a damn; I don't care if she leaves._

            _You're lying._ a sneaky little voice argued from inside his head.

            _Dammit!_  Spike mercilessly beat the 'sneaky little voice' into oblivion.  "It's all right." he gruffly brushed off the apology.  "I'm a narcoleptic, remember?  I'll just take a nap later."

            He felt Faye looking at him, but kept his own mismatched eyes steadily forward.  

            The rest of their smoke passed in silence, but, as they walked back toward their respective rooms, Spike couldn't help but feel that something had changed.

A/N:  That wasn't TOO horribly out of character, was it?  I know it's going to be at least a little OOC, since I honestly don't think Faye and Spike would have ever gotten together outside of the wonderful world of fanfiction, but I tried not to overdo it.  Anyway.  Cookies to: PimpinSatan and Jim Hawking Jr.


	12. The Background

            "So who's this bounty?" Spike asked, peering over Jet's shoulder at the computer screen.  

            "A group." the older man replied. "They're usually really careful, but they screwed up and left evidence at the scene that the police identified them with.  They stole some really valuable antiques."

            "Antiques?" Spike queried flatly, rapidly losing interest.

            "You'd be surprised at how much some of that stuff is worth," Jet told him, "especially if it survived the Gate accident."  He recovered his businesslike tone.  "They have five paper documents, two paintings, and eighteen books.  Every single item is worth more than this ship and everything in it."

            "And how much would that be, Jet?" Faye inquired, sardonically quirking an eyebrow.

            "Listen, if you don't want to eat-" 

            She laughed; Jet threw her a disgusted glance and went back to the information.  

            Spike's own eyebrows went up at the reward.  "That much?"

            "I told you, the stuff they stole was **incredibly** valuable." Jet explained patiently.  

            Spike was reluctantly interested.  "Where can we find these guys?"

            "Got it!" Edward crowed, beaming at the Tomato.  "They're on Mars!"

            In an interesting phenomenon, the faces of each adult tightened and one eyebrow spasmed irritably.  

            Edward looked from one to another.  "What?"

            "Nothing."

*

            "Yeah, I heard some stuff was goin' down." the hood choked out, struggling in vain against Jet's robotic arm.

            "I'd appreciate it if you could tell me more." Jet smoothly suggested, tightening his grip the smallest bit.  

            "Listen, man, I'll get fragged if I-"

            "I'd be more worried about the here and now than what just **might** be." the Black Dog advised, appreciably tightening his hold.

            "All right, man, all right!  I heard Ainsley and her gang had somethin' to do with this.  I heard they offloaded a buncha shit- paintings, books, papers, that kinda thing."

            "Do you know what they had?"

            He did.

            "Do you know where they 'offloaded' it?"

            He didn't want to say, but Jet could be very persuasive.  

*

"Hi.  I heard you got some very- interesting- merchandise in recently." Spike grinned at the man behind the counter.

"What do you want?"

            "I want to know where you got it from."

            "I'm afraid we can't give out information about our suppliers-"

            "I had a feeling you'd say that." Spike commented conversationally, pulling a gun.

            "You have no idea what you're getting into." the clerk warned.

            "Your guards?  I'm not worried about them." Spike told him dismissively.

            The other man smiled.  _Oh, you'll see soon enough…_

            Faye walked in, shaking a gloved hand, with Jet stalking behind her.  "I swear, that guy's head was as hard as Spike's!"

            "I doubt it." Jet disagreed sourly.

            "You were saying?" Spike politely inquired of the clerk.

            "Nothing." the other man resolutely replied.

            Spike's shot grazed the side of his head.

            "Okay, okay!  We got this stuff from Ainsley and her crew!"

*

            "Ainsley Ainsley!" Edward ran around the room, flapping her arms.  "Edward knows Ainsley!"

            "How?" Faye asked, puzzled.

            "She gave Edward a ride to the Bebop!"

            Jet shot a look at Spike.  "Remind me to thank her."  His tone left no doubt as to what kind of thanks it would be.

            "Their ship is the Ignis." Edward added, perching on the table in front of Jet and peering at him with an intensity that made his weathered cheeks flush.  "Edward can find it, if you want."

            "Yes." Jet nodded authoritively.  

            "Ignis, Ignis, show me where the Ignis is!" Edward commanded of the Tomato, wiggling her hands in time- honored mystic fashion.  Faye and Jet watched the master hacker at work, and Spike took a quick nap.  

            "**HERE**!" Edward shrieked five minutes later, startling Spike and Ein into upward movements so fast that man and dog were blurred.  On his descent, Spike's knee met the table rather forcibly, prompting him to curse vociferously.

            "What's that, Ed?  I couldn't hear you!" Jet said loudly, giving Spike a sidelong glare.  

            "Edward **said**, the Ignis is on Venus."  

            Spike finally quieted, and Jet left the room.  

            "Impressive, Spike.  Where'd you learn all those?" Faye archly questioned.  

            Spike treated her to a few more.

            Faye merely raised her eyebrows, and Jet reentered with the medical box.  

            "I owe you one, bud." he reminded Spike, holding up a particularly noxious- looking specimen.

            "That's okay." the green- headed man replied, wrinkling his nose.  

            Edward leapt over the table and devoured it in one gulp.

            The adults' jaws dropped; then, abruptly, they leaned in to peer at Edward in much the same way she'd peered at Jet minutes before.

            "Mmm." Edward critiqued, rubbing her tummy.  "That was good."  

            "Then I suppose you won't want dinner." Jet commented hopefully.

            "Dinner dinner!  Where, Jet person?"

            Jet blinked.

            "Well, Spike," Faye began, chortling, "at least there's **one** person who can stomach your cooking."

            "I didn't cook that!" he protested indignantly.

            "Doesn't matter, it's still yours." she retorted, and the bickering began in earnest.

            "Urgh." Jet succinctly opined, leaving for the kitchen.  Edward and Ein trailed him hopefully.    

A/N:  Not very good, I know, but I wanted to get something out; y'all've been so good about reviewing!  I have the warm fuzzies every time I get through checking my email.  ^_^  Cookies to: PimpinSatan, SpecterQueen, Jim Hawking Jr., Meheeners, and ShinyFairyLights.  Oh, and sorry if I used any slang out of context… I'm not really good with stuff like that.  =(


	13. God of Wine

            "I can't believe we got our hands on one of those.  A real ancient burial doll." Mary Anne breathed, gazing rapturously at the little object.  (A/N: You know, ones like the Egyptians used to bury with their dead, to be their servants in the afterlife?  At least, I **think** that was them…)

            "Yeah, we were really lucky." Ainsley acknowledged.

            "Luck nothing.  It was skill." Brendan dismissed Ainsley's words with an arrogant wave of his hand.

            "And luck." she insisted.  "It was **luck** that those dumbass guards were inattentive long enough for us to gain the advantage."

            Brendan merely snorted and went back to tweaking with the ship's defense systems.  "And I suppose that my disabling the electronic defenses was luck too."

            Mary Anne reached out a finger and tentatively stroked the doll.  

            "Mary Anne!" Ainsley barked.

            The other woman jumped back, as though scalded.  

            "So what're we going to do with it?" Mary Anne asked, keeping her fond eyes on the artifact.

            "Sell it, of course." Ainsley replied, looking at her friend as though she were crazy.

            "I know… but let's be careful who we sell it to, okay?  Let's not just go with whoever pays the most."

            Ainsley's face acquired a tight expression and a tic started near one eyebrow.  "That's exactly what we're going to do, go with the highest bidder.  The whole point of all this is making money, you idiot."

            Mary Anne gave her the Puppy Eyes.

            "You know that doesn't work on me." Ainsley scoffed.  "Besides, this thing is really valuable.  Anyone willing to pay what it's worth isn't exactly going to be careless with it."

            "I suppose." she said doubtfully.

            "And Venus is full of high- class people.  We won't have to worry about anything."

            "There's always something to worry about." Brendan opined pessimistically.  

            Mary Anne blew him a raspberry.  

*

            "Okay, the deal's going down at midnight." Jet told them.

            Faye started laughing.

            He turned a forbidding face to her.  "What."

            "'The deal's- going down- at- midnight?'" she repeated, gasping.  "My God, Jet, you sound like some cheap, cheesy TV cop show!"

            "Well, he **did** used to be a cop." Spike pointed out fairly.

            Faye merely laughed all the harder.

            Edward draped herself around the top of Faye's chair and started giggling too, and Ein joined in with a series of enthusiastic barks.

            Jet scowled with thorough displeasure and addressed himself only to Spike.  "**Anyway**, they're going through with it at midnight.  At a place on Venus- the Skyblue.  Some sort of bookstore hangout for snobs."

            Spike smiled grimly and stood.

            "Hey, where are you going?" Jet asked, surprised.

            Spike turned halfway through the door.  (A/N: You know how he does- kinda looks over his shoulder, with one hand on the doorway and the other- um- in his pocket, I think, and one foot stepping out?)  "Out."

            Faye got up and followed him.  

            "Hey!" Jet protested again.

            Faye gave him a dismissive look and ducked through the door.

            Spike darted a glance over his shoulder at her.  "Where're you going?"  _I sincerely hope you don't think you're coming with me._

            He didn't have to worry.  "None of your business." Faye coolly informed him, getting into the Redtail and waiting for him to take off first.

*

            "Stella?" Spike asked, heading straight into the old ship.

            "Spike!" she greeted, from somewhere behind him.

            Spike turned.  The first difference he noticed, unsurprisingly, was in her eyes; their blue was now vivid and clear, but more than that was the expression residing in them; there was a sadness lingering just beneath the surface.  

            He wordlessly presented her with the flowers he'd picked up on his way there.

            She buried her nose in them.  "Thank you, Spike.  They're lovely."

            "You can see them now?"

            "Very well." she replied, starting up the stairs and gesturing for him to follow her.  

            Spike took a seat as she did the same in her rocking chair.  "Something's happened to you, Spike."

            He glanced up at her to find her watching him.  "Has that 'something beautiful' disappeared?"

            "No." she said immediately.  "No…  It's still there- stronger, in fact.  It's just changed."

            "How?"

            She blinked thoughtfully.  "You have a sort of- peace that you didn't have before.  Something's been settled."

            Spike would never know what it was that prompted him to begin talking to her, telling her things that he'd confided in no one but Electra.  And even some things that he hadn't told her…

*

            "Okay, here we go." Jet's voice ordered over their communication units.  (A/N: Walkie- talkies just doesn't seem right.  So I'll call them comm units.)

            Faye and Jet took the back entrance, and Spike the front; they'd surrounded their bounty heads before they fully appreciated what was happening.

            "Ainsley?" Jet asked.

            One of the women gave him a malicious glance.  "Yeah, what?"

            A smile appeared on his face that didn't bode well for her.  "Did you give Edward a ride back to my ship?"

            "Listen, man, that crazy- ass kid hijacked our ship, we had no choice-" started a man.

            "Allow me to show my appreciation." Jet said, aiming a gun at Ainsley's head.  Spike was covering Brendan and Faye had Mary Anne, who was watching the proceedings with an expression of detached, mild interest.

            The second man at the table ducked under it and ran, with a securely wrapped bundle tucked safely under his arm.

            "Hey!" Faye yelled, scrambling after and sending bullets flying at his heels.

            Ainsley shoved Jet aside and followed.  Jet chased after her, and Spike looked from them to the perfectly still Mary Anne before handcuffing her and dragging her along with him as he joined the chase.  For her part, Mary Anne jogged easily alongside Spike and seemed perfectly happy to be doing so.

            The thief made it into the street, hunched his shoulders up around his neck, ducked, and bulldozed through the crowd.

            Faye charged right after him, shoving people right and left, with Ainsley following her example.

            Jet tried to push his way through, too, but by this time the bystanders were getting pissed.  Jet ducked under two punches; Spike, with Mary Anne trotting after, jumped over the heads of other irate people with the aid of a foot in the middle of the punchers' backs and landed right behind Ainsley.

            Cursing, Jet managed to throw three more men off and follow.  

            They continued in this way for another five minutes before Faye stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk and jerked her head so quickly from one side to the other that it was a wonder she didn't rip it right off.  "Where'd he go?  Dammit, **where'd he go**?!!!!!!"

            "He'll be gone by now." Ainsley spat, struggling against Jet as he tied her arms together.  "You lost him."

            "It was **your** fault!" Faye retorted heatedly.

            "How the hell is this **my** fault?"

            While the two women continued to argue, Jet took Mary Anne from Spike.  "Where'd the guy go?"

            Spike shrugged.  "He's probably gone too."

            Jet cursed again.  "It was double if we brought in all three of them!"

            "Wait a second…" Spike muttered, scanning the crowd.  _The idiot's actually going to try to rescue them._  

            He wouldn't get the chance.  Spike carefully worked his way behind the man, using the crowd as cover; a quick strike to the back of the neck brought him down without any trouble at all.  

            "**There he is**!" Faye and Ainsley chorused at the same time, looking skyward; a ship similar in design to the Redtail hastily took off.

            Faye growled and made for her own craft.

            "Faye, wait!" Jet called.  

            "Too late, she's gone." Spike told him cheerily.  "It's her business if she doesn't want any of the reward."

            "Of all the people that keep getting gone, it's never the ones I **want** to go." Ainsley lamented.

            Jet hustled her to the Hammerhead along with Brendan, leaving only Mary Anne to Spike.

            "This is a very nice ship." she complimented him, when they were seated in the Swordfish II.  

            "Thanks." Spike said, slightly surprised.  

            Mary Anne looked around with a great deal more interest than she'd shown in the Skyblue.  "Customized very impressively."

            "Erm." Spike vaguely replied.

*

            "Why'd you gag her?" a startled Jet asked at the police station.

            "She wouldn't shut up." Spike growled resentfully.

            "Here's your share of the money.  And Faye's, if you want it."

            What might have been a smile flitted across Spike's face as he took the cards.  

A/N:  I'm not entirely happy with the way this turned out but it'll have to do.  It's like I have partial writer's block or something, it's just not flowing like it used to… oh well.  Cookies to:  Jim Hawking Jr. and PimpinSatan.  


	14. A Place for my Head

            Spike and Jet craned their heads back upon hearing the door gently _whoosh_ open; then both men sprang up in shock.  Spike used the couch to vault over the railing and reach Faye's side as she fell forward.  "What the hell **happened**?" he asked in amazement.  

            "Faye Fa- whoa." Edward said, amber eyes widening to take up the majority of her face.  She stared aghast at the bruises and cuts covering Faye; her eyes traced over the rips and tears in the older woman's already scanty outfit and one bare foot.  The remaining boot, instead of its usual white, was varying shades of brown.  

            "Edward, come with me." Jet commanded, in a tone that brooked no argument.  The girl obeyed silently, casting one last curious look at Faye over her shoulder as she followed Jet.

            Ein trailed at Spike's heels as he half- carried the injured woman over to the couch and carefully laid her down.  One of her hands dangled over the edge; Ein nosed his way under it and whimpered.  

            Jet reentered the room carrying their medicine box, and without another word or even a glance at each other, he and Spike began cleaning Faye's wounds.  Faye kept her eyes tightly shut and let them do what they would.  All she knew, and all that mattered, was that she was safe.

*

            "I know you're awake." Spike told her quietly.  

            Faye remained motionless.

            He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled the smoke.  "The others are gone."

            She cracked an eyelid the tiniest bit; Spike was staring at a point on the ceiling, and Faye kept her eyes half- lidded.  (A/N: I just had to use that somehow.  =P  Guess I've been brooding about Bellatrix too much…  Meh.)  "What do you want, Spike?" she inquired wearily.

            "I want to know how this happened." 

            "I got my ass kicked." she curtly informed him.  "By that bounty that stole whatever it was Ainsley was selling."

            "It was an ancient burial doll." Spike replied placidly.  "And I'd like a few more details- like where you were, and what the hell you thought you were doing."

            "It's my business where I was." she snapped.  "And use your brain, lunkhead.  I was going after a bounty."

            "In other words, you got in over your head." he summarized.  She scowled, but her silence was concession enough.  They sat quietly for a while.

            Finally, Faye spoke.  "It was a house.  An old one; it looked like it used to be apartments."  She flushed angrily.  "I didn't realize that there were others in there.  There was a- fight-, I got captured, and it took me a while to get out."  

            Spike didn't say anything.

            Faye told him where the apartment was.  

            He didn't break his silence.  

            "What's wrong with you?" Faye demanded, turning her head to get a better look at him.  

            Spike ground the cigarette out on his shoe and set it on the table.  The loss of the red glow left them in darkness, but Faye could hear him rise.  He stood looking down at her for a moment; then he abruptly asked if she'd like to sleep in her own bed instead of on the couch.

            Faye stared with sightless eyes.  He seemed to take her lack of an answer as a negative, and there was the barely discernable sound of him turning on his heel.  "Wait!" she said hastily.  "That- that'd be nice, Spike.  Thank you."

            He didn't say anything, but walked over and picked her up, blanket and all.  Faye allowed herself the comfort of resting her cheek against his shirt as he carried her.  

            Spike edged open her door with the side of his foot; crossing over to the bed, he shunted the messy sheets to one side and set her down, removed the blanket borrowed from the couch, and covered her with her own.  

            "Spike?" Faye began hesitantly.

            "What?"

            "Could you- would you sit with me for a while?"

            He didn't move for a minute.  "Sure." he decided abruptly, seating himself on the edge of her bed.  Faye wormed her hand into his.  

*

            By the time Spike left Faye's room, dawn was breaking over Venus.  In a sudden decision, he made his way toward the sunlight beginning to illuminate the Bebop.  He watched it for a moment; a tall figure in a rumpled suit, topped with a messy mop of green hair, black against the encroaching light.  He sighed and raised his face to the dawn before turning.  (A/N: He's silhouetted in that window I like so much.)

            A few minutes later, the other two pairs of feral eyes watching the sunrise saw a sleek racing ship streaking toward the Gate.  

*

            "Excuse me." Spike tapped the little man on the shoulder.  

            "Yes?"

            "Is this where I can find Obi, that antiques dealer?"

            The man eyed him with considerably more interest.  "Yes."

            "And did he recently get a burial doll?"

            "Yes." the man was starting to get excited by the third repeat.  

            "Just checking." Spike told him, and brought up his fist.  The little man dropped at his feet, and Spike entered the building.  

            The bricks were scummy, and the rug under his feet probably contained more vermin than threads.  Spike ignored it and went up the stairs, where an officious woman with the harried look of a secretary stopped him.  "Name and item you wish to inquire about?"  (A/N: Faye snuck in.  Spike just walked in the front door.)

            Spike pushed past her.  

            "Sir-" she tagged along after him, nagging at his heels, "sir, you can't go in there!"

            A musclebound bouncer came lumbering up to them.  Spike blocked his punch and took him down without breaking stride.  

            The secretary ran down the hall in the opposite direction, screaming something about maniacs.  Five more men came out of doors lining the hall and immediately commenced firing on Spike, who dove into a door on his right.  He took down the startled occupants in only a minute, then darted behind the door.  When the first pursuer turned the knob, Spike opened the door for him, putting the man off balance; Spike then slammed it directly into his head, dropping him.  He changed his position to the wall beside the door as gunfire ripped it apart.  Someone kicked in what remained of the door; Spike rendered him unconscious with a kick to the head that sent him flying into a wall.  He flipped another man into the table and knocked out the fourth with the butt of his gun.  Spike fended off gunfire from the fifth with a chair, in a manner reminiscent of a lion tamer, before hurling said chair at the offending gunman.  With the man distracted by the chair hurtling toward his head, it was easy for Spike to land a kick on his jaw that sent him backwards into a wall before crashing facedown on the floor.  Spike exited the room, calmly stepping over the spreading blood from the man's broken nose.  

            He shot eight more armed men in the hall moving toward the source of the trouble.  Spike helped himself to the guns of two of them before going on his way.  

            Three men stood at the top of the stairs, firing down at him.  Spike managed to shoot all three, and the six behind them, without being touched by any of the bullets they sent flying in his direction.  (A/N: C'mon, you know he's Just That Good.  Besides, they'd be distracted by the comrades falling around them, since they did that cool thing where their finger pulls the trigger as they fall so it's absolute **chaos**…)  

            Another little man was trying to climb into the antiquated air ducts; the several bundles in his arms made it quite difficult for him to do so.  Spike's tug on his foot sent him sprawling, and knocked two of the bundles out of his arms.  Spike pointed the gun at him.  "Are you Obi?"

            The panting man jerked his head up.  Snatching up the fallen bundles, he held them out to Spike eagerly.  "Yes, I'm Obi, the antiques dealer!  I have only the highest- quality items!  Take this burial doll for example, it's worth millions of woolongs-"

            Spike shot him in the head.  He holstered the pistol, speculatively eyeing the bundles.  Then he shrugged and picked them up.  Spike ignored the heads peeking fearfully out of the half- closed doors and walked out of the building, into the light, with his head held high.  

A/N:  Better ending, I think.  ^_^  Next chapter: Spike's return to the Bebop and ensuing events.  Either the next chapter or one after that will be the last… yes, my dears, the end is coming. * Jon Stewart- like moue of sadness* (he has the **greatest** facial expressions, doesn't he?)  Cookies to: PimpinSatan, Jim Hawking Jr., and SpecterQueen, who also get cakes for Outstanding Reviewing (not necessarily telling me what I want to hear, but reviewing so often.)  ^_^


	15. Wake Up

"Spike- person!" Edward greeted him happily at the door.  Spike knew what she was after and tossed her one of the bundles.  

"A present for Ed!" she crowed, discarding the wrapping everywhere as she revealed a small book.  The girl suddenly stopped dead, staring at the cover.  Her head jerked up.  "Edward cannot read this!" she told Spike breathlessly.  She sounded absolutely thrilled.

Spike's brow quirked.  "You don't usually wear that, do you?"

Edward glanced down.  Her outfit consisted of a pair of loose khaki shorts, secured at the waist with a large belt with double holes.  Instead of her usual white T- shirt, she had on a loose, colorfully decorated top (A/N: You know, like they wore in the sixties?  Not peasant tops, but those kinda bohemian looking things…)  The girl secured her prize in her toes, grinned maniacally at the befuddled Spike, and dove headfirst toward the floor.  She broke her fall with her hands, and walked away on them without so much as a glance at Spike.  Ein trotted after her.  Spike stared.  

_How the hell did Faye get her to wear a bra?  No,_ he decided fervently, _I **don't want to know**.  _

Speaking of Faye…

Jet poked his head out of the kitchen.  "About time you got back.  Where'd you go?"

"I had to pick up a few things."  He tossed the rest of his load to Jet, who contorted himself madly to catch them all.  

The ex- cop's eyes flicked from the bundles to Spike.  "Don't tell me you…"

His former gangster of a partner smirked.  "I could tell you where the rest of them  are, too."

"Spike…"

"Have you changed Faye's bandages?"

The older man's expression sobered.  "No.  I haven't checked on her."

"I'll do it." Spike told him with supreme casualness.

Jet gave him a shrewd look- _I know what you're doing, I know what's going on_- but turned his attention back to the kitchen without comment.  

Spike retrieved the medical kit, and knocked on Faye's door; when no answer came, he let himself in.  

She was still asleep.  He seated himself on her bedside and watched her for a while.  

He traced her features with his eyes, then his index finger.  She stirred under the light touch.  

Another few minutes were spent in watching her silently before she groaned, rubbed her eyes in a manner reminiscent of a small child, and opened them.  They groggily drifted to Spike, who held up the medical kit in silent explanation.  

Not a word was said as Spike cleaned her wounds and bandaged them again.  Occasionally, though, Faye hissed in pain; Spike would pause for a moment before proceeding as gently as he could.  

He finished, and after putting away all the supplies turned back to Faye to find her looking at him.  

"What?"

"Thanks." she told him softly.  

The sincerity in her eyes made him extremely uncomfortable.  Faye kept staring; right when he was about to ask what her problem was, she leaned forward and gave him a surprisingly chaste, brief kiss on the lips.  Before he could do more than widen his eyes in reaction, Faye slugged him with a pillow.  "Get out.  I need to get dressed."

_You need to get your head checked._  "Get dressed?  You aren't getting out of bed."

"How are you going to stop me?  Are you gonna block my door with that fluffy head of hair?" she challenged.

He snorted.  "Take a look at yourself, Faye.  You're going to be spending at least the next week in that bed."

"No way!  I'm getting dressed, then I'm getting on the couch."

"Why the couch?  You didn't want to be on the couch last night."

"I can't watch the TV in here."

"What makes you think I'll let you watch it in there?"

Edward popped her head in; there was a breakfast- laden tray teetering precariously on top of it.  Spike grabbed it before it wound up on the ground.  "Faye- Faye, Jet says that he's charging you extra for this."  Her brow knit in puzzlement.  "He kept muttering about stupid wenches."

Spike stifled a chortle as Faye muttered something extremely uncomplimentary under her breath.  Edward snapped to attention in the doorway.  "Mission accomplished satisfactorily!  A Medal for Victorious Ed!"  She grabbed Ein (who yelped in surprise) and held him in front of her (A/N: Like the whatchamacallit on ships, or a hood ornament on a car) as she zoomed off.  

As he walked out the door, Faye chunked a pillow at his head; it connected solidly (for a pillow, anyway) before bouncing off.  Spike shot a smile over his shoulder, closed the door, and rested his head against the pillow held in place by the arms clasped behind his head.  

*

Faye leaned heavily on the doorframe.  _Damn!  Just getting dressed and dragging my ass out here took up all my energy…_  Spike helped her to the couch and took a seat beside her.  

"What's that?"

Spike's disinterested glance followed her pointing finger.  

"Some of the merchandise that Ainsley's buyer had." Jet answered, shooting a look at Spike, who suddenly had an innocently blank expression.  

Faye's tone was impatient.  "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Have you found anyone to buy it?"

"We can't sell this stuff!  It's hot."

"Of course we can sell it." Faye argued, rolling her eyes at Jet's troublesome morals.  "It's not like that- whatever that plant was-"

"Grey ash." Spike supplied, keeping his gaze on the TV.

"Yeah, grey ash!  It's not like that stuff- it's not like people are going to die without it-"

"People go blind without it." Spike half- corrected.

Faye shot him a look- _shut up, lunkhead.  You're not helping._  "Anyway, there's a market, and we probably wouldn't get caught-"

"Ed can sell your souvenirs to Ainsley!" the hacker shrieked happily, popping up out of nowhere.  

"But we turned them in." Jet protested.  He ought to know, he'd been there…!

"They escaped." Edward informed him, with the utmost lack of concern.  "Edward can find the Ignis.  We can sell it to them.  EAT!"

"Mmm.  Bell peppers and beef." Spike's attention was lost to both the conversation and the TV.

"The provisions **I** brought back are starting to wear out.  Besides, they're stale!  There's no harm in selling the stuff back to Ainsley.  Especially considering that's where we got it from in the first place." Faye wheedled.

"Okay, fine." Jet huffily conceded.  "But I had nothing to do with this."

"Then naturally you won't want any of the profit!" 

"Now hold on." he countered sternly.  "You still owe me-" he saw her mouth open but didn't give her a chance to protest, "- for repairs to the Redtail, not to mention food and board, and that's not even considering all the trouble you've given me!  **And** you owe me for breakfast.  And there's that money you stole from the safe, which you haven't paid back **yet**…"

Faye made a noise but kept her mouth shut and seethed.  

"Oh.  I still have this." Spike dug in his pocket and came out with-

"A money card!" Faye observed, making a grab for it.  

Spike dangled it out of her reach and mimed tossing it to Jet, who was smirking.  "Let's see, Jet, would this cover some of that?"

"It'd be a start." the older man hinted darkly.  

Faye snatched it from Spike's hand, not quite concealing the wince that accompanied the movement.  

Jet peered more closely at the hacker.  "Ed, did you get new clothes…?"

"Faye- Faye got them for Ed."  The girl smiled.  "Bras really aren't that bad!"

Both the men suddenly looked stupendously sick.  "Edward-" Spike choked.

"-too much information!" Jet finished.  

Edward ignored them, grabbed Ein, and flung herself onto the couch on Faye's other side.  "Faye- Faye?"

"What."

"Are you better now?" she inquired conversationally.

"I'm fine." the bounty hunter answered shortly.  

A picture of Faye stumbling through the door rose in Spike's mind.  

_I don't ever want to go through that again_. he thought involuntarily.  _Wait a minute- what the hell?_  

Edward laid her head on Faye's shoulder for a minute before springing up and running off, Ein in tow.  Jet went to work on his bonsai, and Spike turned his attention to the television again.  Faye drowsed off, leaning against Spike.

A half- hour later, Edward stood in the door to the common room, smiling.  Faye was stretched out across the couch, covered with a blanket and propped up against Spike, who was also asleep; his head of green hair rested atop her purple one.  Edward noticed Spike had an arm around Faye…  

And neither of them was having nightmares anymore.

EDWARD:  Well, that's it!  The last chapter!  They all lived happily ever after.  Didn't they, Ein?

EIN: *barks*

EDWARD: And cookies for- ME!  Mine, all mine!  Bwahahahahaha!  *grabs all the cookies and runs off*

PYRINSOMNIAC:  Hey, come back!  Come ba-  Hey, Spike!

SPIKE: Leave me alone.

PYRINSOMNIAC:  But-

SPIKE:  I'm sleeping with Faye.  Remember?

…

SPIKE:  PERVERTS!  Not like THAT!  

*****collective snicker*  Suuuuuuuuuure…

PYRINSOMNIAC:  *puts Spike in a straitjacket before he can kill her reviewers… and possibly for other reasons, hopefully NOT involving the sale of Prime Grade- A bish…*  Okay, perhaps this wasn't such a good idea.  But it's 4 in the morning and I have CARTOONS to watch tomorrow, dammit!  So this is all you get.  Sad as it is.  Cookies to: PimpinSatan, Jim Hawking Jr., Soranji- chan, and SpecterQueen, who also all get bukus of cakes and ice cream for their Lifetime Reviewing Achievements.  Jim Hawking Jr.- I know this probably wasn't the something unexpected you wanted, an extra- long and weird author's note and Faye actually KISSING Spike (up in a tree…), but… well.  

EDWARD:  This really is the end.  *springs to attention*  Mission accomplished!  Spike- person is NOT dead and is now with Faye- Faye.  *beams*


End file.
